I could tell before we pulled into the campground that I was going to hate this place. Tons of out-of-town traffic, signs and parking lots for shuttles, restaurants and gift shops, all for some bunch of waterfalls or something.
But Tracy insisted I go on a certain short hike he’d been on years ago. He dropped me off at the visitor’s center at 7 am to avoid crowds, and the minute I got on the trail I understood.
I was snapping photos left right and center and really just enjoying having the views all to myself. Holy moley, no wonder so many people come here.
The main trail runs alongside a gorge, and I hiked from the bottom to the top, where Tracy picked me up (knees).
I saw rare dragonflies and abundant moss, and I walked under waterfalls and through arches.
I didn’t read the displays though, since I wanted to take advantage of having the place to myself. By 7:30 people were coming in, and I wanted to get to the top of the gorge on my own.
These shots are from my phone; I took many with my camera, but I can’t get them downloaded yet. These give an impression, though. And man did this impression swell. If my knees are okay, I’m going again the day we leave here, since it’s crowded as heck even at 7 am over the holiday weekend. After, though, there’s a chance I’ll have the gorge all to myself again.
Other days, we’ve had a ton of errands to run here, but in between we’ve been sampling the 75 breweries of the region.
My friend Tom told me that, according to the Iroquois, the great creator so loved the land here that he touched it with his hand, and that’s how we got the Fingerlakes.
I believe it.
Hey, I like how my other friend Doug ends each of his blog posts with a photo of himself and Melanie, even when the photo is goofy. I’ll start that now.
More on our travel plans and health updates, next. You guys, take care!
Goofy is good! The goofier the better!
Goofy coming up. 😘
I love all of this. Thank you for sharing. ❤️
Now! Those photos of that trail are like in a fairy-tail Shelly. I just feel I would like to write a short fairy-tail story about that. Like, are you interested? As my english is not that perfect, would you like to edit it and if appropriate publish it on your blog? Like to me, inspiration is all that counts, right?
I very much would like to see those photos from your camera Shelly.
What do you say? I’m not that difficult am I?
Love and Hugs,
-Li
I think we have a story deal, Li! I pick up a replacement computer next week and should be able to grab those photos then. I’ll put them in a folder in the cloud for your inspiration.
Love that Shelly, and in some mysterious ways I don’t think I will disappoint you.
Love Li,
In all mysterious ways you have never disappointed me, Li. 🪄
Absolutely stunning! That’s my favorite type of place to explore when we travel… I’ve been on a few similar hikes in NY but never this one. Glad your knee was up to the challenge.
👍
Thank goodness it was only a mile!
With my bad knee hiking up is okay. Down is painful and problematic…
That’s precisely why I chose up.
ooo your photos put me Right There… now you know where to go for stunning photos in the winter when all that water FREEZES :))
Oh my gosh I hadn’t thought of that!! Have you taken photos here in the winter?
Spent a summer in Trumansburg back there somewhere. Sooooo beautiful. Love the finger lakes. Also a great place to find fossils if you care to search.
I think there’s a whole hell of a lot of interesting things to do here, if someone would just get off the brewery tour …
Totally adding Watkins Glen to my bucket list. Err…where exactly is Watkins Glen?!
Upstate New YorkYork, basically. Kind of near Ithaca, Cornell, etc.
Perfect. I’ve always wanted to visit that part of the country! (I mean, I’ve been there, but I was like three years old. Doesn’t really count.)